Airfoil construction



Oct. 14, 1952 YOUNG 2,613,893

AIRFOIL CONSTRUCTION Filed April 1, 1948 INVENTOR.

RICHARD H. YOUNG QMMM ATI'OR NE Y.

Patented Oct. 14, 1952 AERFOIL fooNs'raUcrroN Richard Hall Young, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to Curtiss-Wright Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application April 1, 194.8, Serial No. 18,450

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to aircraft con-' trol airfoils and particularly to an improved structure for providing mass balance in such airfoils.

The desired balance of control airfoils, such as ailerons, elevators and tabs, is often obtained by securing within them, usually in the nose portions thereof, massesof lead or like high density metal. causing the air foil-to be in static balance about the axis of its hinge connection to the airframe, although in some cases a mass is chosen which will produce a desired degree of overbalance either fore or aft of the hinge axis.

Difficulty has been encountered with balance masses of lead-and similar soft metals by reason of the metal creeping or deforming under load and thereby loosening upon the fasteners which connect the masses to theairfoil. Furthermore such fasteners ordinarily cannot be secured directly to the leading edge of the-airfoil but must be secured to internal structure that'is closer to the airfoil hinge axis. Hence the mass of such fasteners, from the standpoint of balance effect, is inemciently utilized. Further, the attaching of the lead masses by conventional means has been time-consuming and in many instances the necessity of such attachment has required airfoil structural design and steps of assembly which are disadvantageous from the standpoints of weight and cost.

The present invention has as its primary object an improved mass balance airfoil construction which will obviate the foregoing difficulties, which will provide secure anchorage of the balancing mass in the airfoil leading edge, and which will secure maximum utilization of the mass from the standpoints of both structural strength and balancing effect.

The manner in which the foregoing objectives and advantages are achieved will become apparent from the following description of the typical embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tip portion Usually such a mass is provided for' of an aircraft wing having an aileron constructed being indicated at It in Figure 3. The body of the aileron in this instance comprises a single sheet of metal formed to provide upper and lower skin surfaces It and I5 and a connecting upright portion [6 having openings through which access may be had to the airfoil interior. The internal structure of the aileron body may comprise spars l7 and 3 to which skin sections l4 and I5 are secured by rivets, welding or anyv other suitable fastening means, and, if desired, may additionallyor alternately comprise ribs (not shown) extendupper and lower walls of the shell, and in spaced relation to each other and to the forward tip of the shell, are strips 2| and 22. These strips also are preferably of sheet steel and they are secured to the cap at their upper and lower edges'in any suitable manner, as by welds 23. The forward strip, 2i, is provided with spaced holes 24 for anchoring a mass 25 of high density metal which fills the space within the nose cap forward of V strip 22. The high density metal is poured into the cap in a molten condition, the pouring opera:

tion being easily performed with the cap, functioning as the sidewalls of a mold, standing on end on a flat surface which constitutes the bottom wall of the mold.

Various low melting point metals may be used for the mass 25, but when the sheet steel parts 23, 2| and 22 are provided with an electroplated protective coating of cadmium the mass 25 advantageously comprises a lead-bismuth alloy of approximately 88% lead and 12% bismuth by weight. This alloy can be poured at a temperature of approximately 535 F. which does not damage the cadmium coating or produce any appreciable warping of the plated sheet steel. Furthermore the mass of this alloy adheres to the surrounding sheet metal mold, and it does not shrink and become loose therein as a lead mass has been found to do.

According to one method of fabricating the airfoil, the body including the parts [4, l5, l6 and internal reinforcements I7 and is may be completed and thereafter the completed nose cap, having the mass 25 molded therein, may be attached by fastening means 26. These advantageously comprise screws cooperating with nut plates that are secured to the airfoil body so that the nose cap can be readily detached for providing access to the airfoil interior through lightployed toassemble airfoils utilizing the mass balance arrangement of this invention.

It will be seen that the balance mass2'5 is disposed as far forwardly of the hingeaxis 13 of the airfoils as is possible, thereby providing the maxi: mum balance effect for a given mass. The mass 25 by conforming closely to the nose pQrtion of the shell 20 appreciably strengthens'the-latter, particularly against forces tending to collapsethe shell. The strips 2| and 2-2, in addition to their functions as ,walls .of a mold for confining the mass 25 when poured, and thereafter of supporting the mass 12 5, cooperate with themass 25 inits action of reinforcing the shell. It will thus be seen that by this inventionlthe Weightof the mass 25 and of strips 2! and 22 is efficiently utilized from'the standpointsof both balance efiectjan'd of structural strength.

While the airfoil l2 has been referred teas an aileron it will .be understoodthat fit' may be" any other. kind of aircraft surface thatis to be ..pro-

vided with a balancemas sj For example the airfoil ll may be considered to be astabilizer and airfoil l2 an elevatoror rudder hinged to the stabilizer; or airfoil ll may be considered to be a primary control surf-ace sashes an aileron, rudder "or elevatorand l2 a'i'tab .tliatIis hinged to suchprimary controlsurfac'e. It will also be understood thatvarious modifications may be made in the structure ofIthe'airfoil without departing from the. spirit of, the invention o-r invention will be apparentto-tho'se skilled in the art and may be employed from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1; An airfoil whose leading edgeiportion colmprises a sheet metal shell of substantiallyarched formation in. cross-section, a lsheet'fmetal strip extending spanwise along the interiorfo fjtfie shell, said strip bridging, saidlarch'formatlion throughout their length secured to the shell, the forward face of the strip and the interior surface of the shell forward of the strip defining a continuous ductiform mold cavity, and an integral 'mass of metal cast in and substantially conforming in shape to said mold cavity, said shell and strip being coated with cadmium, and the metal 'of said integral mass being leadbismuth alloy comprising approximately seven parts lead and one part of bismuth by weight.

" 2. An airfoil body and a detachable nose cap therefor, said cap comrising a sheet metal shell 'member' of substantially arched formation in cross-section, the edge portions of the shell being .rearwardly directed and being connected detachably to the forward portion of said body to provide access to the interior of the body, a sheet metal strip member extending spanwise along the interior of the shell, said strip member bridging said arch formation and having its side edge portions substantially throughout their length secured to the shell member, the forward face of thestrip and the interior-surface of theshell forward of the strip defining a continuous ductiformv rnold cavity, an integral mass of metal cast in and substanti llyconforming in shape to said mold cavity, said shell and strip being coated with cadmium and the metal of the mass being and having its side edge portions su'bstaiitially a lead-bismuth alloy comprising approximately seven parts lead and one part bismuth by weight,

and rneans pro-jecting frorn oneof said members and having portions embedded in said mass of metal in interlocked relation therewith.

H YO

REFERENCES CITED The following references areof record in the filef of this patent:

UNITED STATES .PA'IVIENTS Number Name Date 312,485 Makin" Feb. .17, 1385 1,302,947 Martin May 6, 1919 1,997,635 Winters ,May" 9, 1933 2469,3151 'Hoffman'j l l eb; 1,1949

,FQR G PA NT u be Co n r Pa e 2 9.3 ;.o B if M i -".1 1. 

